New to bass

[gallowayphantom]

So I’ve a bass and wanting to learn obviously, at the moment private lessons are out of the question but I know their probably the best way to learn, 

Ive been given the Hal Leonard complete series book. 
Is this a good alternative way of learning the bass 

[Dad3353]

Yes. 

[Reggaebass]

yes they are good 👍 

Edited December 7, 2022 by Reggaebass

[Grahambythesea]

Loads of helpful video tuition in YouTube for free.

[itu]

Play in front of a big mirror so you can see your playing position. May help quite a lot while learning comfortable and ergonomic posture (including hands etc.).

[asingardenof]

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Bass™. Scott's Bass Lessons is worth checking out (scottsbasslessons.com) and Jeff Berlin has a beginner reading book available (jeffberlinmusicgroup.com). 

Edited December 7, 2022 by asingardenof

[SumOne]

That's what I started with. That and YouTube can teach all the theory you need.

 

After about 6 months I think I paid £100 for 3 lessons with someone local. He pointed out a couple of bad techniques I had picked up (bad muting, and plucking strings with inconsistent volume) so I think it was worthwhile before they became too ingrained. 

 

Then I found jamming and playing songs with real people very beneficial as bass tends to be a much more 'social' instrument (tying rhythm and harmony together) than instruments like guitar and piano which work okay practiced/played solo. 

[KingBollock]

1 hour ago, itu said:

Play in front of a big mirror so you can see your playing position. May help quite a lot while learning comfortable and ergonomic posture (including hands etc.).

Definitely this! Whenever I have taught people, the most difficult thing has always been to get them into a proper position. I think it’s just something that people don’t know to think about when they start playing.

 

I’ve been teaching my mate and it was a joy to see his face light up when I finally got through to him that he needed to be in a more ergonomic position, and he was finally able to get his fingers where he wanted them to go.

[WinterMute]

2 hours ago, itu said:

Play in front of a big mirror so you can see your playing position. May help quite a lot while learning comfortable and ergonomic posture (including hands etc.).

Best way to get your stage shapes right too, try for the classic "foot on the monitor" Iron Maiden stance, the Cliff Williams "like a rock" stance and a decent variation on the "bass by the knees" Ramones/Clash look. 

 

It's very important to look good whilst learning.

 

Never miss bass-players neck day. 😆

[lownote]

Escape now before you while you still can!! Or maybe it's too late.

[asingardenof]

Just now, lownote said:

Escape now before you while you still can!! Or maybe it's too late.

One of us! One of us!

[Boodang]

7 hours ago, gallowayphantom said:

So I’ve a bass and wanting to learn obviously, at the moment private lessons are out of the question but I know their probably the best way to learn, 

Ive been given the Hal Leonard complete series book. 
Is this a good alternative way of learning the bass 

Hal Leonard books are great. YouTube is a good source of free lessons but it's also full of idiots, so start with some recommendations... Scott's Bass Lessons and Dan Hawkins are worth checking out. 

And remember to keep it fun, learning scales, technique etc is necessary but you're playing bass to play music so play along to and learn the songs that you love to listen to.

[gallowayphantom]

How about Bass buzz and talking bass on ytube

all great answers many thanks folks 

I really like the jazz/blues bass tunes

[TheLowDown]

It depends if it suits your learning style, but that's a very good book that includes everything to get you started. I'd probably prop it up with scouring YouTube for instruction vids too.

[SteveXFR]

Fender Play and Scott's Bass Lessons are OK but not much cheaper than proper one to one lessons and not as good. Online lessons tell you how to do things but don't point out your mistakes or bad technique. 

Timing is one of the most important skills to learn. It's really dull but playing scales to a metronome is really good practice. It doesn't matter that you can play the complete works of Jaco Pistorious if you can't keep time with the drummer while doing it.

[asingardenof]

1 minute ago, SteveXFR said:

It's really dull but playing scales to a metronome is really good practice.

Somewhere in America, the hairs on Jeff Berlin's neck stand on end, indicating that someone, somewhere, has suggested that a bassist should be practising with a metronome...

[SteveXFR]

24 minutes ago, asingardenof said:

Somewhere in America, the hairs on Jeff Berlin's neck stand on end, indicating that someone, somewhere, has suggested that a bassist should be practising with a metronome...

 

A quote from Mr Berlin:

I simply cannot think of a single name in all of jazz where a metronome played any part in the developed sense of time.

That's all the reason I need to practice with a metronome. Jazzists never play on the beat anyway.

Metronome practice made a huge difference to my timing. Starting with scales then moving on to riffs with more interesting rhythm. 

[Barking Spiders]

Of all the online bass tutors I've tried by far the best is Mike Smith of https://www.talkingbass.net/

Quite a lot of free material https://www.talkingbass.net/lessonmap/

and his courses won't break the bank either.  He covers all styles but I mostly use his excellent funk/slap bass material. There are classic lines you can learn like Pow by Graham Central Station and Marcus Miller's line on Run for Cover. If you like Flea there are quite a few RHCP lines

[Barking Spiders]

On 07/12/2022 at 15:43, WinterMute said:

Best way to get your stage shapes right too, try for the classic "foot on the monitor" Iron Maiden stance, the Cliff Williams "like a rock" stance and a decent variation on the "bass by the knees" Ramones/Clash look. 

 

It's very important to look good whilst learning.

 

Never miss bass-players neck day. 😆

Even more important is working on your bassface. The GOAT bassfacemeister to whom we all aspire is ...

 

[nilorius]

There is no best way to learn, You have to choose yourself.

[bass_dinger]

1 hour ago, nilorius said:

There is no best way to learn, You have to choose yourself.

 

We each choose our own best way.

 

But one might find it very helpful to ask advice from the experts on this forum. 

 

With that advice and experience, one can more quickly identify what works best for the person 

 

[SteveXFR]

21 minutes ago, bass_dinger said:

 experts on this forum. 

 

Are they a thing?

[asingardenof]

16 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

Even more important is working on your bassface. The GOAT bassfacemeister to whom we all aspire is ...

 

All hail Queen Este

[Ralf1e]

Best bit of advice I ever had was learn the major scales. Start with the tonic/root note and go through the scale pattern. When you have done it enough improvise on the major scale pattern.

Now for the best bit.

You can slide that pattern up and down the neck and you will be playing in the key of the tonic/root note  you started with or resolved to.

You will also have pentatonic and blues scales hidden in there. Just ignore them and use passing notes. It works for jazz so why not.

Last bit, that metronome will become your best friend until you sound like a metronome.

Practice until your fingers get strong enough and hardened off. Do stretching excersises and then practice some more.

Don't take time out and keep going and you will be doing rather well before we all die. 🤣

[Grimalkin]

If you can, bring in strict alternation with your plucking fingers at this point, raking comes naturally but strict alternation (crossing strings on alternate fingers without raking) is hard, that's why a lot of new/old players ignore it. Until you try and play Rocco's lines, then you can see what it's about. I played relying on raking for years until I brought in and practised strict alternation, and that was years of undoing, so if you can bring it in now. I've taught in schools/institutes/privately for over 20 years, very few spend time on that, it's difficult.

 

Nothing comes for nothing...